Canadian Rangers and International Polar Year Focus of Lecture By Trent University’s Dr. Derek Mueller on November 27

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Invited to Free Lecture at the Peterborough Public Library

Tuesday, November 25, 2008, Peterborough

Polar scientist and Trent University alumnus Dr. Derek Mueller will deliver a free public lecture entitled “Canadian Rangers and International Polar Year: A Partnership for Arctic Science and Sovereignty” on Thursday, November 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Peterborough Public Library.

Dr. Mueller, who holds Trent’s first Roberta Bondar Fellowship in Northern and Polar Studies, will discuss his experiences in high arctic research and the impacts of climate change in the region. Dr. Mueller made headlines during the summer following the collapse of several ancient ice shelves which he saw break away from Ellesmere Island.

An expert polar scientist with both Arctic and Antarctic experience, Dr. Mueller’s research explores the impacts of climate change to polar lakes, glaciers, ice shelves and sea ice as well as ice-dependent ecosystems. Dr. Mueller got his start in the field while completing his undergraduate degree at Trent University when he had the chance to do fieldwork on the White Glacier in Nunavut.

In 2002, Dr. Mueller discovered that the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf on Ellesmere Island had split into two halves and that a massive freshwater lake that was retained behind the shelf had drained into the Arctic Ocean. Through his work, Dr. Mueller has brought attention to the loss of 30 per cent of Canada’s remaining ice shelves in the last three years and the affect this is having on ecosystems that depend on ice for their survival.

For further information about Dr. Mueller’s research, please visit the Ice Shelf website.

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Please contact Dr. Derek Mueller at (705) 748-1011, ext. 7153 for more details.